Star-Crossed Brothers
by DucksFan1510
Summary: Connor barely has any friends at school. He talks to one or two people and that's it. Now it is the summer before High School and he's got no one to talk to or hang out with. What happens when a kid moves in across the street? AU Fanfiction. First one I've written so.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Connor stared out his window. He was bored like usual and thought about going into the woods behind the house across the street to climb trees. No one lived in the house across the street so he could come and go through their yard as he pleased. He was just about to yell to his mom that he was going to leave when he heard the rumble of a truck coming down the street. He leaned farther into the window to get a better look and saw a Movers Truck pulling into the house across the street. A car followed the truck and Connor watched as two adults got out. The man opened the back door of the car and gestured sharply at whoever was in the car to get out. Connor almost jumped into the window when he saw it was a kid that looked his age. He leaped back and ran to the railing on the second floor by the stairs yelling for his mom. "Mom! Mom! A kid moved in across the street! Can we go meet them mom?" His mom appeared at the bottom of the stairs and looked out the window, "Really Connor, you should give them a day to move in." Connor sighed "But I'd like to meet them. There's a kid. We could be friends and I won't be bored this summer. His mom contemplated it for a minute and then said "Tomorrow Connor. They need time to adjust. We will go over tomorrow and give them a proper greeting." Connor finally accepted that he wouldn't be meeting the kid today and went back to his room to watch the movers unload the truck. He saw the kid kicking at the grass in the yard and another boy who was probably a few years older than him sneak up and shove him into the grass. He watched as the father yelled to both kids and gestured to get into the house. The younger kid took one last glance around the outside and then disappeared into the house right behind his brother. Connor sighed and knew he wouldn't see the kids again until tomorrow. He left the window and jumped onto his bed and pulled out a book but he could barely even concentrate because of all the questions buzzing in his head. Would the kid have the same interests? Would he want to be friends? Would he be nice? Would they hang out a lot? Maybe he could be friends with both of them. With those questions still in his head he fell asleep still in his clothes and on his still made bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright one more chapter and then you can meet the kids across the street. Sorry if the Chapters are a little short, they'll get longer later on. R&R**

**Chapter 2**

Connor woke up the next morning and wondered why he hadn't changed into his pajamas and why his bed was still made underneath him. The events of the previous evening were not in his mind at the time and he got up and changed clothes. He checked his clock as he pulled on a T-shirt, it read 7:30 am. His mom probably wasn't up yet so he went downstairs to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. As he ate he wondered again why he hadn't changed into his pajamas last night and then the events came back in one huge wave. That kid! He leaped out of his chair and dumped the bowl of cereal on the floor but left it and raced up the stairs to leap onto his mom's bed and begin yelling at the top of his lungs. His mom came around quickly after that. "Connor what the hell are you doing?" his mom said knocking him off of her. "Mom! We have to go meet the new neighbors remember? They have that kid and I wanted to meet him." His mom laughed. "Connor I know you're excited about this but no living soul on the block is actually awake now. We will go in the afternoon. I promise." Connor nodded. "Alright then," he said "I guess I better go clean up downstairs." His mom looked at him. "I don't even want to know," she said as she turned away. Connor smiled and hurried down the stairs to clean up his cereal that still covered the floor of the kitchen.

After he finished which took him only about five minutes he decided he might as well go outside and disturb the peace of the morning. He grabbed his basketball from the closet by the door and yelled to his mom that he was going outside. When he got out he felt like nothing could go wrong. The day was beautiful: dew on the grass, morning shadows, birds chirping, and that quiet air. To bad it wouldn't last. His ball thudded over and over on the ground as he dribbled rapidly through his legs, behind his back, and around his body. He started his shooting and then went into making actual plays. He got to about ten different plays before the neighbor next door walked outside and told him to stop making noise so he grabbed his bike and went around the block a couple times.

By the time he got home it was only nine in the morning and he was dying to go across the street. He went on his computer for a while, ate lunch, and then decided he might as well wait outside with some more basketball. As he played questions flew in his mind. He'd seen both of the boys across the street the day before. The older one seemed like he could be a bit of a jerk but maybe he had just been playing around. He was excited. From what he could tell, as long as the older one was nice, they'd be cool people to know as he entered high school. He hoped that the younger one played basket ball. It would be cool if they were both able to play together. He jumped and shot an easy three-pointer. He let himself fall on to the grass by his driveway and called a fake penalty. Taking his free-throws, he caught a glimpse of movement across the street and his ball missed the basket by a foot. He hit himself softly in the head and told himself to concentrate. He glanced across the street and saw the glimpse flash of face and then the curtain closed. Connor had a feeling that it hadn't been the older boy. He tried to concentrate on the game but having the feeling of being watched was a bit distracting. He doubted the kid had went back to the window but it was weird not knowing how long he had played without noticing the kid. He decided that he was done and headed inside. He had played for about an hour anyway. As he walked inside his mom said she was ready to go. He was sweaty and tired so he splashed some water on his face to cool down and hurried to put his ball away so they could go.


	3. Chapter 3

**Longer chapter! Finally. Thakn you guys for reading! R&R**

**Chapter 3**

Connor was standing outside when his mom came out and told him they could go across the street. He was super excited for this. As they started the short walk his heartbeat picked up and as they neared the house he couldn't stop feeling a bit nervous too. His mom knocked on the door and a moment later the man and woman he'd seen the day before answered the door. His mom smiled "Hi, we're from across the street and we just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood." The woman smiled back and said "Well please come in and maybe you can tell us a little more about this place. I'm sure you're son would like to meet ours anyway right?" Connor realized the question was directed at him in a way so he nodded but didn't say anything. The man held the door open for them and they stepped inside. Connor was surprised on how nice the place looked considering it had been about three years since someone lived in the house. As he took in the house he realized the woman was talking to them again. "….. the neighborhood seems nice so that's good. I'm Andrea Flicker and this is my husband Phillip. Let me go and get Murphy and Luke." She walked to the hallway and yelled up the stairs, "Murphy, Luke do you want to come down and meet someone?" There was silence and then Connor heard a muffled voice reply "Not really." Connor tried not to show the disappointment show in his expression. He should've known it was too good to be true. Then he heard a second voice yell back "Yea mom don't worry we are coming!" He waited and finally a blonde haired kid appeared at the top of the stairs and grinned. "Hey there! I'm Luke!" He walked down the steps and yelled over his shoulder "Come on Murphy! Get down here!" Connor wondered why Luke was so anxious about his brother getting down too but he was excited to meet both of them so he contained his happiness as a second figure appeared at the top of the steps.

This kid looked nothing like his brother or either of his parents. They all had lighter hair but Murphy's hair was a dark brown that stuck up a lot and looked as though he cut some of it with a knife. It was short like his brother's but that was the only similarity. Luke was tall and definitely looked like he played football because what other kind of person would walk around in a close fitting muscle shirt anyway? Murphy was wearing a black T-shirt and black shorts with black socks that went up to his shins. Luke was also wearing black shorts but had white socks that weren't as tall as Murphy's. Luke had grayish blue eyes while Murphy's were dark brown. All in all, they couldn't be more different. They said hello to Connor's mom and then Andrea told them to go and hang out with Connor and Connor was super excited. Luke looked like he was happy too because he told Connor to come upstairs and they could chill in his room. Murphy followed close behind them but didn't look too excited.

Luke told Connor about football and stuff and about the different video games he had. Connor listened to his every word. Luke grinned at him, "So you know the place. School any good? Got a football team right?" Connor nodded quickly, "Yea. They're a really good team too." Luke nodded, "You know the school well? How old are you?" Connor shrugged, "I'm fourteen. I just went to watch a lot of the high school sports." Luke smiled, "Fourteen huh? That's cool. That's Murphy's age too." Connor had actually forgotten about the younger boy in the room since he hadn't said one word. He turned to the younger brother but the boy just nodded and waited for Luke to continue. Luke shrugged, "Alright then. Well anyway, you play any video games Connor?" Connor nodded, "Yes." The older boy started a big discussion with him on a few different games and Connor found himself arguing a lot with him on the topic. Luke was about to go into a long explanation about some Mario game when Andrea called Luke down to go run an errand for her. Connor guessed Luke was close to eighteen even though he acted Connor's age. He got up and left the room saying goodbye to Connor. Then it was just Connor and Murphy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Connor and Murphy time! Thank you guys for reading!**

**Chapter 4**

Connor didn't know what was going to happen next. He slowly sat down on Merle's bed and tried to think of something to say. A good five minutes of silence passed before he heard a soft voice say, "I saw you outside earlier today. You shoot really well." Connor was taken aback. He hadn't expected Murphy's voice to sound at all like that and he had his thoughts confirmed about earlier that morning. He glanced over at Murphy who was standing by the door. "Wanna go to my room? It's cleaner than Luke's." Connor laughed "Sure let's go." Murphy led the way down the hall and opened a door on the right side. They walked in and Connor was surprised at how nice everything looked. "You sure work fast," he said "Didn't you just move in yesterday?" Murphy nodded, "I just like to get things done so I don't have to worry about them in the future." Connor thought about his room which was always covered in posters, sports uniforms, and other crap he didn't feel like cleaning up and resolved to do just that when he got home. He glanced around and his eyes fell on the basketball. "You shoot hoops?" he asked. Murphy shrugged "Yea, I guess. When I have time. I don't usually. Luke always takes it to shoot with his friends at the park." Connor glanced at the window and said "Well if you ever want to shoot you could always come over to my place. I'd be happy to shoot with you. I need lots of practice so I can make the Freshman team at my high school." Murphy looked at him "You'll make it no problem," he said seriously, "I saw you shooting. You're great." Connor grinned. "Maybe when I'm alone. Against someone else is always harder." Connor continued to look around the room and saw the Xbox hooked up to the television in the corner. Murphy's mouth turned up for a second, "You don't have one? I figured that you probably would. If you visit again we can play." Connor nodded, "Sounds great to me. I'd enjoy that." Murphy nodded and the two of them talked for a little while longer about nothing in particular.

His mom called from downstairs. "Connor! We have to go." Connor yelled he was coming and then quickly pulled out his iPod and asked Murphy what his number or email was. Murphy gave him his email and told him to message him later tonight. Connor turned to Murphy, "I'll text you later tonight ok Murph?" Murphy grinned and Connor was glad to see that he'd made the kid smile. "What the heck is Murph?" Murphy asked still smiling slightly. "Well if we're gonna be friends then you need a nickname," Connor said laughing. Murphy thought for a moment and then nodded "Whatever you say Conn." Conner laughed even harder and soon Murphy was laughing too. Conner shook his head and said "Well, I'll see you then." Murphy sighed "Yea I guess so." Connor looked around one last time and then headed down the steps and met his mom at the door. Together they walked out into the street. "So what did you think of Murphy and Merle?" his mom asked. "They're cool," Connor said "I think they'll be fun."

Later that night Connor was lying in his bed thinking about the day when his iPod lit up. He grabbed it and read the message on it. It was from Murphy. Just saying 'hey'. Connor grinned and typed back and they went up and back for a while. Connor asked if Murphy wanted to come over and shoot in the morning with him and Murphy agreed immediately. That would be fun. He hadn't seen Murphy shoot before and he was hoping he was around his level. That way they could both get on the team. Connor grinned again and shot Murphy a text saying 'Night Murph' to get a response almost as soon as it was sent saying 'Night Conn'.


	5. Chapter 5

Alright so the next chapter is up! I realized that I did have a slight identity crisis with Luke/Merle. I guess I'm just going to keep his name as Merle now since it kind of turned into that. Hope you enjoy the next chapter and sorry about the confusion. :)

**Chapter 5**

Connor woke up the next morning and once again was super hyped because Murphy was coming over later on. He got up and went down the stairs to head outside. While he tugged his tennis shoes on, he grabbed a granola bar from the pantry and ate it quickly. As he wandered outside once again hitting an early record time of seven in the morning, he glanced at Murphy's house and saw a curtain swish closed quickly and a moment later the door opened and a small figure came out. Connor watched as the figure closed the door silently behind him and then made a mad dash across the yard. When the figure was halfway across the street Connor said, "I didn't think you'd be over this early Murphy." Murphy leaped the curb and dropped into the grass and grinned, "I'm always up early. I like being up before anyone else." Connor noticed that Murphy had a mark on his face right below his eye. "What happened?" he asked looking at Murphy's face. Murphy shrugged "I just got into a fight with Merle yesterday and he got me in the side of the face." Connor eyed Murphy for another second and then shrugged, "Alright, ready to play?" Murphy, looking relieved Connor didn't ask any further questions, nodded.

After about twenty minutes Connor had a pretty good idea that Murphy could easily join him on the Freshman team. He had great dribbling skills and a nice shot. Connor had to admit that Murphy was probably a little quicker than he was and probably a little sneakier. Connor knew that he could shoot and dribble better but if both of them were on the same team they wouldn't need the other three players. They played out a twenty minute game with five minute quarters which Connor won forty to thirty-six. They lied out in the grass after that just to catch their breath and talk. "You seriously would not have a problem making the team if I can," Connor said "You're amazing." "You still beat me," Murphy answered. "By four points, two baskets, it doesn't matter," Connor said. Murphy said nothing. "Do you want to play some soccer?" Connor asked. Murphy glanced at his watch and then at his house. "I should probably go. I don't want to worry my parents. Thanks for hanging out though." Connor grinned, "I'll play at any time just come on over." Murphy nodded and once again sprinted across the street and up the porch stairs to his house.

Connor watched as Murphy tugged on the door and… it wouldn't open. Murphy all of a sudden ducked down and flipped the welcome matt over to grab a spare key when the door opened and Merle was standing there grinning with their father right behind him. Connor slowly headed into his house but didn't miss the punch from Merle into Murphy's gut or the way Murphy's father grabbed his arm a little more roughly than someone should and almost physically dragged him into the house. It was kind of alarming for Connor but he figured that Merle was just still mad about the fight yesterday and Murphy's father had probably been looking for him anyway. He walked inside his house with no worries and realized that only an hour had gone by and he had nothing more to look forward to that day. He had a feeling that Murphy wouldn't be coming back over later. He sighed and found himself up in his room with a bag of chips and a sandwich, playing on his computer while uploading music onto his iPod. He spent most of his day just chilling inside or riding his bike to as many different places, in a five mile radius, that he could. He wondered if he was going to get a text from Murphy. He figured that if he was going to then he would have gotten it by now. He was surprisingly tired by the end of the day but he still stayed up close to midnight. He hadn't expected his iPod to go off at exactly midnight with a message from Murphy saying 'do you want to hang out today?' Connor laughed softly and replied with 'whenever you want Murph.' The last thing Connor read before he passed out was a message that read 'great see you later! You're coming over my place this time. I know how much you wanted to play that Xbox.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry guys. Been busy for the past couple of days and this chapter was longer to type. Hope you guys are liking it so far! R&R**

**Chapter 6**

Connor woke up later than usual and ended up eating breakfast at nine in the morning instead of eight. His mom was up too. "Morning mom," Connor said yawning. His mom smiled, "Murphy was just over a few minutes ago, wondering where you were. I told him you were still asleep and would be over as soon as I gave you the message." Connor grinned, "I guess I should fulfill my part of the deal then. I'll see you later!" His mom nodded, "Make sure you come home before dinner. I don't care if he wants you to stay for lunch, that's fine." Connor nodded again and then jogged down the hallway to the door. When he walked outside he felt a cool breeze and realized that it was just barely raining. He quickly ran across the street and knocked on the door. Murphy answered a moment later and Connor stepped inside. They headed upstairs to Murphy's room where the controllers for the Xbox were already set up. Connor grinned as he sat down and Murphy showed him about twenty different games they could play. "So what one do you want to play?" Murphy asked as he began lining the games up in rows of five. Connor checked out all of the games and was silent for a moment before saying "Let's play Halo." Murphy nodded "Nice choice. It's super fun."

Connor was totally clueless on how to play so Murphy taught him the controls one by one and then they played one round of co-op fighting. Connor got it pretty easily and soon they were hunting each other's teams. "You'll never find my lookout!" Connor said laughing "It's the best camouflage ever." Murphy grinned "Well if you tell me that, I can limit it down to about five places." Connor stopped laughing "Never mind it has horrible camouflage. I'm surprised you can't see me right now!" Murphy started laughing and soon they had to pause so they could calm themselves and actually get back to playing. They were in the middle of their third match when they heard footsteps coming from the hall and Murphy stiffened. Merle walked in to the room and Connor didn't like the look he was giving them.

"What's going on little brother?" Merle asked "I don't recall you asking to play." Murphy glared at him, "That's cause its mine Merle. You're the one who gave it up for that shiny flat screen in your room." Merle stepped closer to Murphy so they were almost touching and snarled "Yea I let you play it, but it's still mine." Murphy didn't say anything but gave Merle a great looking glare. Connor decided he didn't like Merle that much anymore. He hadn't liked him a lot in the first place but this argument just made the dislike grow. Merle held the Murphy's look for a second longer before his hands came up with amazing speed and shoved Murphy so hard he landed right on his discarded controller. The cry that he gave as he hit the ground made it clear that it hurt. "Hey!" Connor snapped, "You can't just shove him for no reason! He did nothing to you." Merle switched his gaze to Connor who was now standing somewhat in between him and Murphy. "Wow Murphy, I'm impressed. Getting to afraid to stand up for yourself now so you got this little twerp from across the street doing it for you. Real brave alright." Murphy slowly stood up and said shakily "Connor get out of here." Merle grinned, "Guess he's saying he doesn't want your help twerp, how about I make the message clearer?" Without another word and lightning quick Merle grabbed Connor's shirt. It was a blur after that but he found himself lying on the ground and his arm hurting pretty bad. Merle crouched over him and he felt a fist dig into his ribs. He blinked away the tears of pain that flooded into his eyes and saw that Merle was poised with his fist ready to drive into Connor's nose. Then all of a sudden he saw a form come crashing into Merle knocking him off of Connor. Connor leaped up and saw that it had been Murphy. "Connor! Go!" Murphy yelled waving towards the door wildly with his arm as the other one held Merle on the ground as best he could. Merle flipped Murphy off of him and slammed him into the wall. Murphy gasped as the air left his body and Connor started forward bit before he could take more than five steps Murphy shook his head. "Get out Connor!" he yelled "Get away from him. Go home! I'll be fine!" Merle jabbed his fist into Murphy's stomach and Connor could see how much pain his friend was in but he had to trust Murphy on this one. Murphy was coughing but managed to get a punch in so he could get Merle off of him for a second.

But Murphy didn't use his time to get in a better fighting stance or catch his breath. Instead he physically shoved Connor out of the room screaming "GO! GO! GO!" Connor ran not wanting to see any more of what was going to happen to Murphy. He ran down the steps, out the door, across the street, and didn't stop running until he hit his porch. He caught his breath for a minute and then walked inside saying he had a good time at Murphy's. He had. Just not the last five minutes. He knew Murphy was a little quieter about things and he wouldn't want everyone knowing about a fight with his brother. Connor headed upstairs and lied down on his bed. He still felt the pain from where Merle had hit him but it was fading. He hoped Murphy was ok. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be seeing Murphy for a while but he decided that he would text him later on. Not just to see if he wanted to chill in a day or so but to make sure that Merle hadn't seriously injured him. But that was later. Right now he was going to have to focus on keeping his injured ribs from his mom.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bit of a shorter chapter here. Should be longer next time. R&R!**

**Chapter 7**

Connor knew he had to ask Murphy if he was ok or not but decided it would be better to wait. Instead he found himself checking his ribs for marks from Merle and sure enough there was a nice bruise right below his chest. It hurt. He wondered if he would be able to keep this a secret or not. He managed to walk ok so just wandering around the house wasn't a problem. His first test came when his mom asked him if he would take the trash out to the curb. It wasn't very enjoyable pulling the bags over his shoulder to carry outside. As he lifted the second bag to go outside he winced when he hadn't balanced himself correctly and ended up twisting to keep from falling over. That made the pain in his ribs even worse. His mom caught the look and asked "Connor are you ok?" Connor nodded "Yea I'm fine. I was just worried I was going to fall over."

He hurried outside before he became interrogated and dropped the bag next to the first. He glanced across the street hoping he could somehow tell by looking at the house if Murphy was alright. He looked up to Murphy's window and was actually surprised to see him standing there. Connor had to smile and waved. Murphy waved back and pointed at Connor and then made a questioning gesture. Connor guessed he was asking if he was alright or not. He nodded. He then made the same gesture to Murphy which was responded to with a slight shrug from Murphy. Then Murphy pulled out his iPod and pointed to it. Connor was about to pull his out too when he saw Murphy shaking his head. Murphy held up one finger on one hand, two fingers on the other and then pointed to the iPod. Connor got it then. Murphy wanted to text but he couldn't text until later. Murphy nodded as Connor understood and then made a gesture with one of his fingers in a scolding motion. So if Murphy texted now he'd get in trouble. Connor nodded again. Then Murphy raised his hand above his head to show height difference, followed by a mimic of someone sleeping, and then the one and two fingers. Connor put the whole thing together in his mind: Murphy would text him at midnight because that was when whoever was going to bust him for texting would be asleep. He had one more question and mimicked someone searching as to ask: where is the person that is watching you now? Murphy glanced behind him and then pointed to his backside. Bathroom. Connor nodded and then waved to Murphy. Murphy turned from the window and was gone.

Connor was happy though. He would be able to text Murphy later on and would be able to find out what happened after he left without having to play charades. As he walked back to the house he realized that his arm was hurting him from where Merle had ripped him onto the ground. He checked his arm and found some redness but that was it. "God dang it," he muttered. He tugged at his T-shirt sleeve to see if he could cover it and it covered most of it. He spent the rest of the day making sure to show no more signs of pain in front of his mom. It was easier than he thought. He made sure to tug on his shirt sleeve down every few minutes and whenever he was alone he tried to stretch the pain out of his ribs. By the end of the day he was feeling better and was pretty sure he would be fine by tomorrow. He made sure he had some food around ten at night so he would be able to stay up until midnight.

He hung around in his room and finally lied down and waited for midnight. At midnight he zipped a text over. It took a minute but Murphy replied with: hi. Connor was immediately typing all the questions he had had in his head all day: Are you ok? Did Merle hurt you a lot? Why couldn't you text earlier? I should've stayed. Murphy texted him back immediately saying 'No. It was good you left. I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle. My dad yelled at both of us for fighting so I wasn't technically allowed to communicate with anyone for the whole day and Merle couldn't play video games or go out driving.' Connor frowned. Nothing Murphy couldn't handle? Did that mean that he was used to things like that? He shook his head, no Murphy was strong enough, he could fend off Merle. Connor sent back 'You think you will be able to hang out later today?' He clicked his iPod off and waited in the dark for it to light up. When it did he read the message 'Yea. At your place?' Connor nodded to himself but typed back 'Yea.' Connor was almost asleep when Murphy texted him back with the last message of the night 'Cool, I'll see you later!' Then he fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you guys for reading! Hope you like the next chapter!**

**Chapter 8**

Connor went outside early the next morning and waited. He knew that Murphy would be over soon. They both woke up early. He had left a note for his mom saying he would be in the woods today with Murphy. He wandered around in his front yard until he saw Murphy come out of his house and jog across the street. "Hey Murphy! You ready to have some fun? We are going to go into the woods." Murphy glanced behind him "The woods?" Connor nodded, "Yep the woods. But come inside first because I want to grab some snacks." Murphy followed Connor into the house and grinned. "You're house looks like my house." Connor rolled his eyes. "That's cause they are the same style, smart one." Murphy didn't say anything but he did follow Connor around his house while Connor stashed granola bars, cookies, and crackers into his pockets. After a good ten minutes of this they were ready to go.

Murphy followed Connor across the street back towards Murphy's house. Connor led the way through the backyard and into the woods. "It's so quiet here," Murphy said looking up at the trees. "Come on! Follow Me! I'm going to show you the best tree ever," Connor said as he began to jog ahead. Murphy followed and soon they were deep in the woods. Connor stopped suddenly and Murphy almost ran into him. "Here it is. The best tree ever. Know why? It has the best branch arrangement." Murphy looked confused. "For what?" he asked. "Tree climbing!" Connor grinned, "Alright here's the deal. We are going to go up to the top. This tree is one of the tallest in the woods. We can see everywhere when we get there." Murphy nodded. "Alright cool let's start," Connor said. Connor watched as Murphy started the long climb to the top and was happy to see that he could climb very well. When Murphy was about halfway up Connor started climbing. Connor had climbed this tree millions of times so he knew almost every branch and how to position himself. He caught up to Murphy about three-quarters of the there. They climbed the last quarter together and Connor showed Murphy how the branches were close enough to lie down on.

Connor stretched out on the branches and saw Murphy was doing the same. He pulled out a granola bar and handed it to Murphy who took it and peeled back the wrapper. They ate their food in silence for a few minutes. Connor glanced at Murphy and could tell he was holding something back. "Something on your mind Murph?" Connor asked. Murphy didn't say anything for a minute and then turned to face Connor. "I was just wondering why I'm the only person you hang out with." Connor dropped Murphy's gaze. He felt Murphy's gaze on him and he really didn't want to answer this question. "So?" Murphy asked. Connor turned to face him. "People just keep their distance from me I guess." Murphy met Connor's eyes. "But why?" he asked. Connor sighed. "I guess I'm just a target for bullies ok? Happy?" He snapped the last word and saw the slight alarm flash on Murphy's face. "I'm sorry Murph. I didn't mean to yell." Murphy shook his head, "its fine. I'm used to…." He trailed off. "Used to what?" Connor asked curiously. "Nothing," Murphy said immediately. "You tell me what you mean and I'll tell you what I mean about my life," Connor said. Murphy sighed. "I'm just sort of used to being yelled at. Having an older brother who can be a jerk most of the time kind of makes being yelled at a daily activity. It's not like any of my parents stop it either. My dad will openly admit that he likes Merle a whole lot better than me and my mom barely pays attention to me. I have a family Connor but it doesn't feel like one at all."

Connor didn't know what to say. Murphy had never openly admitted that he had problems at his house. He knew he had to fulfill his part of the deal. "When I was in elementary school I had a lot of friends. We were all looking forward to going to junior high and hoping we were in the same classes. On the first day of school we were best friends. The week after they wouldn't talk to me. Some stupid eighth grade bullies decided I would be perfect to torment and they would never leave me alone. My friends decided it would be better to stay away from me and have no interaction with me so they wouldn't become targets either." Connor paused to see if Murphy had any reaction but the dark haired boy just stared up to the sky and gave a slight nod as if to say: continue. "As soon as everyone in the school found out that I was a major target they stayed away from me. I got half a lunch table to myself all the time and I was always the last picked for any team even though I was better than everyone else there. In eighth grade some of the kids in my grade that had been with the bullies last year took their place and continued to mess up my life. It's been the same since." He stopped talking and realized he'd just told this kid everything.

Murphy looked at him and slowly sat up. "I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I just wanted to know," he said. Connor shook his head, "No its fine. It felt good to tell someone else." Murphy nodded. "So should we do something?" Connor looked around and noticed something he'd never seen before. It looked like a pile of junk. "Yea," he said "let's go check that out."

**Any trouble they should get into in later on chapters? I have some stuff planned out but I'll take suggestions!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Next chapter is up! Let's see what Murph and Conn get into now...**

**Chapter 9**

They climbed down the tree and Connor was impressed that they got down in that short of time. Connor headed in the direction of the pile of junk he'd seen. "What exactly are we going to do?" Murphy asked. Connor realized now that Murphy was walking like he was keeping more weight on the right side of his body. "You ok Murph?" Connor asked. "Yea I'm fine. What are we doing?" Murphy responded. "We are going to investigate this junk pile I saw." Connor replied. "What in the world for?" Murphy asked. Connor grinned, "I want to see what's there. Maybe they have some cool stuff."

They finally reached the pile of junk and they started picking there way through the stuff. Murphy wandered around the outside of the pile looking at the different things. "Who threw all this stuff away? There's got to be enough stuff here to build a house!" Connor's eyes lit up. "Exactly!" he said surprising Murphy who jumped. "Exactly what?" Murphy asked. "We'll use this stuff to build a tree house! No one's using it here anyway and it isn't doing anybody ant good just lying here." Murphy grinned. "Great idea Conn! There are plenty of boards here. That'll be perfect for the walls and floors." Connor glanced to where Murphy was standing and saw the pile of boards. There were enough to make a tree house in half the trees in the woods. "This is going to be the best tree house ever. Now let's get these boards back to the tree." Connor said. Murphy glanced around at the boards, "How are we gonna get them all back? They're not the easiest looking things to carry." Connor started stacking the boards into piles, "I think we can take ten of them at a time. I'll carry one end and you carry the other." They started carrying the boards back to the tree. "So do you have the right tools for this? I don't think I do. Not like I would be able to get my hands on them if I tried." Connor thought for a moment, "Yea I do believe I have them. I'll just get them. I'll look around tomorrow morning before I pick you up." They took about five trips of ten boards before they decided that was good for the day. It was three in the afternoon when they wandered back to their neighborhood. Murphy grinned at Connor. "So tomorrow should we start building it?" Connor nodded. "Definitely. I'll get the rest of what we'll need. Do you think we could bring any food tomorrow? We'll probably be up there all day." Murphy nodded, "Yea I could try. I'm not bad at sneaking around, I'll get something." Connor smiled, "Awesome! Then it is a green light for tomorrow!" Murphy laughed as they reached the end of the woods. Then they parted ways.

Murphy slowly walked to his door as Connor jogged across the street to his house. When Connor arrived at his house he stepped inside. "Hi mom," he called out, "Murphy and I hung out in the woods all day today it was so fun!" His mom called back "I'm glad you had fun Connor." Connor walked upstairs to his room and only then thought about his earlier conversation with Murphy about his family. He felt bad about half-forcing Murphy to tell him about it but he also thought that Murphy half-forced him to tell him about his problems. It was a fair trade in his eyes. He thought about what Murphy had told him. About how no one in his family even paid him any attention unless they wanted to yell at him. He hated how Murphy had told him that even though he had a family it didn't feel like one at all. Connor hoped that Murphy was alright at his house most of the time. It just seemed to Connor that the best people in life got the worst things. "Connor are you ok?" his mom asked. "Yea I'm fine. Tree-climbing wears me out," he replied. His mom called him down for dinner about an hour later or so. After dinner he went back to his room and started coming up with designs for their tree house. He came up with a good looking one to start with and they could improvise from there. It would be hard to carry the boards into the tree but once they achieved that they could do anything. He had an idea that might even work for that. That night he lied down thinking only about how amazing this project was going to turn out and how lucky he was to have a friend like Murphy.

**Thanks for reading guys! Review please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I changed a few things from the movie because it'll make more sense that way. Read and Review please!**

**Chapter 10**

When Connor woke up the next morning he realized it was pouring outside. He knew that if it was raining he and Murphy would still go but then it started lightning. His iPod lighting up distracted him from his window. He grabbed it and read the text from Murphy. 'I don't think we are going to be able to go outside today.' Connor laughed and typed his response of 'No, really? It's thundering out. Being near a tree that height would be like a death sentence.' He waited until Murphy responded. 'I was fine with that. But I'm not feeling to good today so I wouldn't have been able to go anyways.' That kind of depressed Connor. He had been hoping that maybe Murphy would have been able to hang out inside. So he just replied 'Oh. That sucks. Well I'll see you tomorrow then?' He waited a good ten minutes before Murphy's text came across. 'Yep.' Connor tossed his iPod onto his bed and then went downstairs and watched it rain. What in the world was he going to do today? His two best options were taken by the rain: Murphy and outside.

He sighed and searched through his Nintendo DS games to find a good one. As he searched he rubbed his right shoulder where he had a tattoo branded high on his right arm. It was a single word: VERITAS. It meant truth. He had no idea when he had got it. It had been there as long as he could remember. He had asked his mom about it one day and she hadn't known when he had gotten it, just that she hadn't let him get it. There had to be some purpose to it. Why else would someone get their kid a tattoo? He glanced outside and found that it looked like, if even possible, that it was raining harder. Then a thought struck him. He went to his computer and began typing in VERITAS in the search bar. Sure enough, the first option was VERITAS and AEQUITAS. They were a pair. One didn't appear without the other one. Which meant his brother would have the other one. If he found someone with AEQUITAS on their shoulder, he would find his brother. That would be amazing. He would have someone else with him. He wouldn't have to spend days like this alone doing nothing. He was very excited about his discovery but one more question floated into his mind so he typed it in the search bar. 'Translation of AEQUITAS.' Connor scrolled through a few different sites before finding what he was looking for. 'AEQUITAS- in Latin means Justice/Equality.' Now that his round of questions buzzing in his head was gone, he was out of things to do. That was the bad thing about waking up early: you had a lot of time on your hands if you got bored. A flash of lightning lit up his room and thunder rattled the house. He loved storms just not when they interfered with his plans. If they were driving somewhere then he always wished for a storm to come so he could watch for lightning and try to take pictures of it. He had only to get one picture of a brilliant flash of snake lightning and it was saved on his computer, iPod, and camera.

Another flash and more thunder. He stood by his window and continued to watch until a movement caught his eye. Murphy's door was opening and one figure was pretty much dragging another smaller figure out into the rain. He watched as the larger figure half tossed- half shoved the smaller into the yard and the rain. Then the figure turned and walked back into the house. "What the heck?" Connor asked himself. He was trying to convince himself that the figure that wasn't Murphy but that was the only person that could fit that size. He hoped this would work. He texted Murphy: 'Murph. It's raining outside. Why are you out there?' He narrowed his eyes so he could see through the rain and watched as the figure pulled something out of his pocket and began typing on it. Connor confirmed his suspicion that it was Murphy. A text came back 'I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.' Connor sighed. 'Look Murph. I'm at my window. I can see you standing out there. You should at least sit under something so you don't get sick.' Murphy's text came back in a second 'Ok. Sorry. I'm out here because I kind of got kicked out of the house for a little while.' Connor frowned. That wasn't normal. 'You want to come over here?' he asked. He saw Murphy look up towards Connor's house and then his iPod went off. 'I don't think they'd like that. I'll be fine. It's not that cold out here anyway, just wet.' Connor shrugged. He wasn't going to force Murphy to do anything. 'Alright then' he sent and didn't get a response back. He walked away from the window but it was bothering him that Murphy had got tossed out into the rain. It was like they didn't give a crap what happened to him. So every fifteen minutes he checked to see if Murphy was ok or not just glancing out his window. It was something to do and he got to read while he did it. After about three hours or so he saw the door open across the street and Murphy was allowed to go back in. He rolled over onto his back, put his book on top of his face, and let the tense feeling that had been in his chest the whole time dissolve.

He glanced at his clock and saw it was six in the evening. His day had gone by relatively quickly. He fooled around on the Internet with VERITAS and AEQUITAS to see if he got anything more out of it but the sites all said the same thing. Finally bored with not finding any results he resorted to playing music through his headphones and writing VERITAS in huge black letters and then designed with different black markings. By the time he finished doing that it was close to eleven at night. He decided that if he went to bed now he and Murphy would be able to get an earlier start the next day on their tree house. He got ready for bed and hoped to god that it would stop raining by tomorrow. He fell asleep to the sound of the rain getting softer.

**I was actually glad this chapter came out a little longer than usual. Had to change the area of his tattoo for later on reasons. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Next chapter is up! Treehouse building! Let's get to work!**

**Chapter 11**

It was bright and sunny the next morning which meant that they would be able to go back to the woods. Connor ran across the street early and knocked on Murphy's door. He grinned as Murphy opened the door and Murphy waved at him. "Here come on in for a minute. I need to grab my shoes." Connor stepped into Murphy's house for the third time and glanced around for Merle. "He's not home," Murphy said as if reading his mind, "He's been spending time with this girl that lives down the street. Looks about his age. Actually I bet he's already asked her out." Murphy rolled his eyes. Connor laughed and Murphy hopped up from tying his shoes. "Let's go!" he grinned. They ran through the woods and made it to the tree in about ten minutes. Connor checked their materials. He had been able to grab a hammer, screwdriver, handsaw, and a small bucket of nails from his house. "Alright I say that we spend an hour or so dragging the boards up towards the top and making a stable area to keep the tools. Then we should lay out the floor and start nailing that in place. If we have time after that we should work on getting the walls up," he said. Murphy looked at him. "I hope we can get those boards up there. I also think that we should make it more elaborate than just a regular box. We have to make it big enough to walk in and have two rooms. With a ceiling." Connor grinned. "I love that idea. Now come on! We're burning daylight!" Both boys grabbed a board and began the long trek up the tree.

"I'm glad these aren't like ten feet long," Murphy gasped as he dragged the five foot board up the tree. Connor let out a strained laugh as he tugged his board free of some branches. "It's a good thing that we are great climbers," Connor said. Murphy laughed from farther ahead. They continued their trek and soon arrived at the top of the tree where they had been last time. "Oh my god," Murphy said as he stood up and dropped his board on the tree, "that was not fun. How are we going to get all of them up here?" Connor shrugged, "We only need about ten or fifteen and then we could get started on the floor." The next hour continued in the same manner and by the time Connor's time limit was up they had managed to get twenty five boards up into the tree. "We're good!" Murphy said with a laugh. "Yes we are!" Connor laughed back. They stopped for a fifteen minute break in which Connor pulled off the backpack he had been carrying the tools in and pulled out a bag with a bunch of food in it. He tossed an apple to Murphy and took one out for himself. They ate quickly, anxious to get back to work on their house. After they finished they tried to see who could throw the core of the apple the farthest into the woods. "Isn't this littering?" Murphy asked. Connor shook his head, "Nah the animals get to them. I've been here a lot and left a lot of apple cores here. Whenever I come back they're gone and I see tracks." Murphy grinned. "That would be cool to see." Connor nodded, "It would. Now let's get back to work. We have a lot to do."

They got to their feet and began laying out the floor plan. "Alright I think the room should be seven or eight feet by seven or eight feet," Connor said studying the tree. Murphy nodded his agreement, "That'll be big enough. We will need measurements though. Don't suppose you have a tape measure in your magic bag?" Connor grinned, "As a matter of fact I do. I grabbed it right before I left my house." He pulled out the tape measure and they got to work cutting the wood. They worked for a while before Murphy asked what the time was. Connor checked his phone and saw it was noon. "God, Murph. It's already lunch time do you want to eat?" Murphy sneezed but nodded, "Yea let's eat. I'm starved." They set down their tools on their half finished floor and sat down. Connor bounced on the boards a few times. "It's definitely sturdy. We aren't going to fall through the floor so that's a relief." Murphy laughed as Connor pulled out sandwiches and cookies. They started their lunch. "You know," Connor said, "this is actually a good idea. I mean we could hide up here and stuff. It's like a safety house." He glanced at Murphy to see his reaction since he had said that for an idea. He saw the realization dawn in Murphy's eyes. "Yea I guess so. I think it would be better used as a place to have a party one day. Once we get hooked up to cable and electricity." Murphy said laughing. "I'll see if I can get the electric company to pay us a visit," Connor said rolling his eyes. Murphy dusted off his shorts and stood up. Connor was about to stand up when he heard Murphy give another huge sneeze. "God Murph! You're going to knock the whole tree down!" he said. "Sorry," Murphy said, "I don't know why I keep sneezing." Connor thought back to yesterday and the rain. "Do you think it might have something to do with sitting out in the rain all yesterday?" he asked. Murphy shook his head, "No, I was underneath the roof for most of the time."

Connor couldn't take it anymore. "Look Murph. I know that you don't like talking about what you go through with your family, but lying about it isn't going to get you anywhere. I saw you out there. I checked to make sure you were ok every fifteen minutes because I was worried about you and you declined the offer to come over my place. I never saw you underneath the overhang of the roof. You stayed on the sidewalk in front of the porch where there was no roof and let yourself get soaked. So either you felt like you needed a really long or cold shower or you weren't allowed to go under the roof." Connor took a breath and looked down at Murphy. Murphy was looking at him like he was some evil person getting ready to attack him. His eyes were wide and he was shaking. Connor mentally hit himself. "Murph, I'm…." but Murphy cut him off. "So maybe I didn't go under the roof. Maybe I felt like not getting beat up for breaking the rules. Maybe I felt like actually being able to feel my back for a little while. Maybe I didn't feel like having my dad yell at me for doing absolutely nothing. So yea I sat out in the rain. I didn't come over your place. I wanted to make sure he had no reason to get me in trouble." Connor could see the pain that Murphy was trying to hide in his eyes. He slowly sat down next to Murphy. "I'm sorry Murph. I didn't know. That it was that bad." Murphy just shook his head. His whole body was shaking. Connor put his arm around him. "I promise Murph. I'll keep you safe from them. Whenever you feel like something is going to happen, you just get over to my house or to this tree house and text me." Murphy stayed silent but Connor knew that he was crying. "I promise ok. I promise." Finally Murphy nodded and scooted closer to Connor. "I didn't mean to go off like that," Murphy said "I was just scared. You almost sounded like Merle there. He always yells at me for doing stupid things or anything." Connor kept his arm around Murphy. "Well I think we should stop for today," Connor said, "you go home and stop sneezing and we will finish the floor and walls tomorrow." Murphy nodded and together they walked home. When they were almost at Murphy's house Murphy spoke up. "Thanks Conn." Connor looked at him, "For what?" Murphy continued to look ahead, "For just being you I guess and for saying what you said back there. It's just nice to know someone cares." Murphy smiled at him and walked into his house. Connor headed to his house. He didn't really see the meaning behind those words until he was lying in bed. He realized that by being who he was, he had made a difference in one kid's life. He didn't care what those kids at school thought of him this year in high school. He and Murph would have each other's backs the whole way.

**Thanks for reading guys! Reviews are very welcome!**


	12. Chapter 12

**New Chapter! Have fun! Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 12**

Connor was up and around once again around seven in the morning. He was packing up his bag for their trip into the woods. His tools were still there but he didn't have the lunch packed or their snacks. He was carrying one of those drawstring backpacks so it was light enough to carry up the tree. Once they got the roof up he would just leave the tools up there but for now he would be carrying them up and back. He left a note for his mom about the woods and walked out the door. He was surprised to see Murphy in his driveway shooting a basketball around. He stayed quiet and watched. Murphy was not paying attention to anything except the ball he had. Connor grinned as Murphy pulled off the move that Connor had been practicing a few days ago after Murphy had left his house. When he was done watching he pretended to have just come out. "Hey Murph, what's going on?" he asked. Murphy stopped moving and turned around. "Nothing really. Just waiting for you to come out," he answered. "Alright then now that I'm here, let's get started!" They headed towards the woods. Connor noticed the glare that Murphy gave his house as they passed. "You mad at the house?" Connor asked. "Nah. Just that Merle is bringing that girl over all the time. I've managed to avoid them so far but I know I'll get caught by him eventually," Murphy sighed. Connor nodded and they arrived at the tree shortly after.

They didn't need anymore boards since they had only used about seven of them yesterday. "Alright then. We finish the floor and start planning and maybe building the walls," Connor said as they stood on their half made floor. Murphy nodded, "Let's start working!" They began their usual measuring and cutting routine and soon they had the floor laid out. They each took a hammer and started pounding nails. "God. How long have we been out here? It's seems like hours," Murphy said wiping sweat from his face. Connor laughed and checked his watch, "About an hour and a half Murph. We have a long way to go." They continued their work and Connor bounced on the boards to make sure they were sturdy. Another hour passed and the whole floor was completed. "Food?" Murphy asked hopefully. Connor rolled his eyes, "Yea sure, here." He tossed one of those little bags of chips that you could buy in those big boxes. They crunched on their chips away from the floor so they didn't get it dirty. "Ok so the walls are going to be about six to six and a half feet tall so we can walk," Connor said as he checked how many boards they had left. They only had ten left after they built the floor. "Oh man we might need some more boards." Murphy grinned, "I got it. You're better at cutting than I am. I'll bring up a bunch more." Connor nodded, "Cool. Then I'll start cutting the six and a half feet panels." Murphy clambered down the tree quickly and in about five minutes returned with the first board. In the next two hours the other twenty five boards had been brought up and the wall had been planned. They had enough to complete the walls but they would need more boards from the junk pile to do the roof. After they figured that out they sat down to eat lunch. "So are we doing the walls today?" Murphy asked as he bit into a sandwich. "Yea. I think we can finish them and then get the boards next time we come back here. It's supposed to rain tomorrow." Connor replied.

He saw Murphy's expression change. Then Murphy looked back at him. "Come over?" he asked, "please? I can't get stuck in that house a whole day trying to avoid Merle and that girl." Connor nodded, "Heck yea I'll come over. It's time for a rematch in Halo anyway." Murphy laughed. They finished lunch quickly and spent the last four hours of their time putting up the walls. "I think we need windows," Murphy said as he placed a board and nailed it to another. "I've been thinking the same thing. We'll use a knife or something to cut through the boards once the walls and ceiling are up. Then we won't have to do any funky work with the boards while we put them in," Connor agreed. Once they finished the walls looked stable and tall enough to walk around in. "So after tomorrow we do the roof by climbing up higher into the tree," Connor said as they climbed down the tree. Murphy nodded, "Come over early in the morning so maybe we won't have to sneak around Merle." Connor grinned, "Because no one would want to see that." They both laughed the rest of the way back and then parted ways. Both very excited for the next day.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Next chapter is up! Hope you guys like it!**

**Chapter 13**

Connor woke up late and knew Murphy would be mad. "God dang it," he muttered, "Merle's going to be up." He headed downstairs after throwing on shorts and a T-Shirt. His mom was up and she smiled when she saw him. "Murphy has been over a billion times, just saying," she said laughing. Connor nodded, "I thought he would be." He quickly ate breakfast and then hurried out the door calling back that he'd be back later. As he stepped outside he realized that the weather report had been correct and it was raining out but nothing like the other day. He jogged across the street and knocked. Murphy opened the door with a finger to his lips. "Shhh," he said, "thanks to our late sleeper, Merle's in the living room. We're going to have to pass by there through the kitchen to get to the stairs." Connor nodded. He'd been here enough times to remember where the steps where. He recalled having to flee from the upstairs the second time he had been here. "How are we going to get through there without being seen?" he asked. Murphy tried to smile, "Walk as fast as you can but don't run. We don't want to bring attention to ourselves." They snuck to the end of the hallway. "Alright," Murphy whispered, "Walk fast and, just in case, don't look at them." Connor broke into a quiet fit of laughter so they had to wait for a minute. Then they began their walk.

Apparently whatever girl had been with Merle had been looking their way because they weren't even halfway through the kitchen when she pointed them out. "Merle, I didn't know you had brothers," she said. Murphy froze and glanced at Connor. "Wonderful," he whispered. Connor shook his head. "I don't have brothers. I have one. I don't count him anyway. Murphy get out of here," Merle snapped the last part. "No it's fine. They can stay," the girl said. Merle looked very unhappy with that statement. "Come on Veronica, they're like fourteen. They probably want to do whatever they were going to do anyway," he said pointedly. Murphy nodded. But Veronica wasn't paying attention. She was too busy talking about how sweet both of them looked. Connor seriously wanted to stuff something in her mouth to get her to shut up. He wondered how someone like Merle could like someone like this. Merle had obviously had enough too. He slowly walked over and gave Murphy a little shove. Murphy had been to busy trying to tune out Veronica so he never saw it coming. It wasn't hard but he ended up hitting the ground. Connor rushed to him but Murphy was already getting up. He glared at Merle but Veronica was already on him. They started arguing about something.

Murphy motioned with his head towards the stairs and they ran up them to Murphy's room. "I can't believe how much she talks!" Murphy said making a gagging gesture, "I thought I was going to throw up if she said one more thing about my 'beautiful eyes' and how I looked nothing like Merle, thank god." Connor laughed. They heard the argument continuing. Murphy sighed and laughed at the same time. "Merle's the only guy I know who can break up with a girl in less than like four days." Connor laughed harder. "I was wondering how he could put up with her if we couldn't," Connor said. Murphy grinned. "I know right. I seriously felt like clamping my hand over her mouth and saying shut up please." They waited until they had calmed down from their jokes and then Murphy picked up the game. The fight was on. They played for about ten minutes before they heard the argument end. "C'mon," Murphy said, "I want to see how this turns out." Connor grinned and they headed to the top of the stairs. Connor watched as Veronica stormed around the house with Merle following her talking about something they didn't understand. They heard her storm out of the house and Merle cursing and talking about things. Connor was startled to hear Murphy's name appear in his conversation with himself many times. Connor glanced at Murphy who was listening too. He was straining to hear more but Connor could tell Murphy wasn't getting anything useful. "Let's go back," Murphy said finally, "he's going to ramble about useless stuff for hours." They laughed and headed back to Murphy's room where they continued their vengeance match in Halo. Murphy ended up winning by four kills. Connor tossed his controller gently on the ground and stretched after the match. "You'd never think of this but video games totally mess up your muscles," he said. Murphy shook his head, "Not if you play as good as me!" Connor rolled his eyes but Murphy continued, "Do you want something to eat? It's probably safe downstairs." Connor nodded, "Yea let's do that. I'm actually hungry."

They walked down the stairs and Murphy poked his head around the wall, "All clear." They made a few sandwiches and then ran up the stairs. "Where did he go?" Connor asked. "Don't know. Don't care," Murphy said shrugging. They ate in Murphy's room and Connor decided to fully investigate. He hadn't been able to completely look over what Murphy had. The T.V. and Xbox were across from his bed. He had some sports stuff in one corner and a stack of books in another. "Are you enjoying yourself?" Murphy asked grinning slightly. Connor laughed, "Yep. Definitely. I haven't gotten to look around before." Murphy shrugged, "You weren't missing out on anything. It's not I have anything that cool." "I think the Xbox is cool. I don't have one," Connor said. "Fine. You win," Murphy said, "What do you want to do?" Connor glanced around. "It's up to you. I don't know your house," he said. Murphy sighed, "Well I don't know either. I hate the rain." Connor agreed, "Yea I want to work on the tree house. Getting the ceiling up and everything."

Murphy decided that they should go walk around a bit so they headed towards the stairs. Connor had an idea. "Do you want to like see how high we can jump off the steps?" he asked. Murphy looked at him. "Didn't people do that when they were like five?" he asked. Connor shrugged. Then went up to the fifth stair and jumped to the landing. "Beat that." Murphy glared but took a leap from the sixth step and made it. Connor took seven and Murphy took eight. Connor almost slipped on nine and Murphy had to roll after landing from ten. Connor finally declared Murphy the winner after standing on the eleventh step for ten minutes contemplating his jump while Murphy made jokes and messed up his timing. "That was way too weird." Murphy laughed. Connor nodded, "But I was bored and you had no ideas. I should probably go though. I'll meet you tomorrow morning for the roof!" Murphy grinned, "I'll be ready Conn." Connor walked across the street to his house and when he got back home he put his basketball by the front door. He would need it for early in the morning. He drew out plans for the walkway to the second house. He figured they'd be able to get rope from the junk pile as well as more boards and maybe some kind of screen for the windows. He tucked the plan into the shorts that he was going to wear tomorrow and knew that they were going to have a mansion by the end of the summer.

**They're such little kids. Next update won't be for another four days or so. I'll be out. Thanks for reading! Reviews!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Next chapter is up! Hope you guys like it! **

**Chapter 14**

Connor paced his room. He knew that he wasn't meeting Murphy until nine and it was seven. He finally grabbed his shoes and basketball and went outside to shoot. He heard paper crinkle in his pocket and pulled out the drawing of the tree house and grinned. They were going to work toward that today. He began his normal routine of plays. Behind the back, switch hands, lay up. It was one of his favorite plays because he could beat any player on it. He continued practicing until he heard a noise. He turned around but he didn't see anyone or anything so he continued. It wasn't until he heard quick footsteps on the pavement behind him that he spun around and got a hand clamped over his eyes and mouth. "I swear to god, if you scream or yell, it'll be worse," the stranger said. Connor grunted and tried to shift free of his captor but a punch to his stomach told him to stop. The person's voice sounded familiar. "Now I'm going to let go. Don't you dare move." Connor decided he better not run. He had a blindfold over his eyes in ten seconds. "Lot's of practice with this?" he snarled. "Shut it. Walk." Connor was led somewhere but he finally decided he was in the woods because he was walking over grass and leaves. His captor tied him to something that Connor guessed was a tree. The blindfold was removed from his eyes eventually and it took him a second to register where exactly he was. He was in the woods and tied to a tree. Wonderful.

He turned his head and he then knew why his captor's voice had sounded familiar. "Nice to see you twerp." Merle. "Why the heck did you kidnap me? What do you have to gain from this?" Connor asked angrily. "You and my stupid brother are the reason that I now don't have girlfriend. So, since my brother messed up my life I'm returning the favor. And it's not technically kidnapping. I'm just waiting here until Murphy shows up. You'll be back home by noon." Merle said. Connor tried to keep cool. "I'm glad you think I'm special to Murphy," he said. "Shut it." Connor tried to shift positions but it wasn't very easy. "So while you and I are hanging here. Do you want to discuss like personal issues or do you just want to not talk about anything?" Connor asked. Merle glared at him, "We wait for my brother and then you can go." Connor frowned. That meant that….. Oh no. Merle wasn't trying to hurt him. He was waiting for Murphy to come to the rescue so he could capture him instead. "Murphy isn't going to find us. We could be anywhere in the woods it would take him hours just to search the woods let alone any other places around here," he said. Merle grinned and shook his head, "You think I'm stupid? I left him a note with everything he'll need to find us. Plus if it takes him a while, he'll be able to find us when you start yelling." Connor glared. "Yea right." Merle shrugged, "You'd better hope he gets here fast. I'll give him until ten. That's about a half hour."

Connor leaned against the tree and waited. He was scared though. What was Merle going to do if Murphy didn't show? No, Murphy would be here. He wouldn't let Connor down. When twenty-five minutes passed Connor began shifting restlessly. Merle was grinning. "Guess you're not as special to him as I thought." Connor looked away from him. He knew Merle was lying but there was always that small tiny part in himself that was wondering if Merle was right. He tried to shake that doubt off of him but it stuck around. He remembered the time in Murph's room and how Murphy had gone out of his way to get Connor out of there. He knew that Murphy would come. It hit thirty minutes with no sign of Murphy. "Alright let's start shall we?" Merle asked. Connor didn't meet his eyes. "People aren't themselves when they're scared kid, you should learn that. Probably why my brother abandoned you today," Merle said. "You're wrong," Connor snapped but as he said that a fist caught him in each shoulder. Another to the gut. He got a break every five punches or so, just so he could get more. "Don't you think," Connor gasped, "someone is going to notice all these marks?" Merle laughed, "Nope I'm only hitting you where your shirt covers you. It'll hurt eventually." Connor was about to say something when he got nailed in his shoulder and it popped. That was when he cried out. "Told you," Merle said. Connor glared at him. He would never admit Merle was right about anything. As Merle gave him a couple more punches to his stomach and chest he realized something. This was what it was like to be Murph. This is what he had to deal with all the time, every day. It was way different imagining it then actually experiencing it. He kind of understood why Murphy kept this stuff secret.

A few more punches to his chest did something to one of his ribs so he had a cry of pain forced out of him. That cry was when he heard a noise. Merle turned and Connor knew if it was Murphy he had to distract Merle. He kicked his foot out and nailed Merle in the leg. "You little…" The rest of what Merle was going to say was cut off when a form shot out of a bush and nailed him. Murphy was here. "Conn!" Murphy gasped, "Are you ok?" Murphy shoved Merle again and hit him. Connor watched Murphy fight and saw it was totally different from Merle. Murphy used his feet to dodge Merle's punches and then strike out. Murphy knocked Merle far enough away so he could run to Connor and cut the ropes. "Why do you have a knife?" Connor asked. Murphy glanced at him. "Merle left me a very convincing letter and I decided I would bring one in case he tried something like this." They turned and started to run. "Where are we going?" Connor asked. "Safe house," Murphy grinned. They made it to the tree house and clambered up and into it. Murphy peered through the window and ducked back. "He's coming. Look, I'm going to run one way. He only wants me. I'll distract him and then you can get out of here." Connor looked at him. "That's good Murph. But I'm coming with you. We are both in this mess. I'm not going to let you go through that anymore." Murphy looked at him like he was crazy. "Go through what?" he asked. Connor sighed. "When I was tied to that tree with Merle glaring at me, I felt so small and powerless. I get it Murph. I didn't really know how much you have to go through before today. That's why I'm not letting you do this alone," he said. Murphy smiled, "Then let's do this." Together they climbed down the tree and Murphy yelled at Merle.

Then they were running. Merle was right behind them but they managed to get out of the woods. Connor was right behind Murphy and that's when he felt a foot hook under his ankle. "Crap!" he shouted as he hit the ground. He heard Murphy stop running. He also felt a hand grab his collar and drag him up. "C'mon Murphy. I'll let him go. Don't worry," Merle said with a grin. Connor kicked at him but Merle dodged easily and landed his own kick behind Connor's knees. "Ok. Ok. I'm coming Merle let him go," Murphy said. Connor couldn't see through the tears of pain in his eyes but he heard Murphy's footsteps.

Connor waited and finally the steps stopped and he was let go. He slowly took a step and turned around. Merle had Murphy's arm in his grip and was smiling at Connor. "Get out of here kid," he said. Murphy looked up from the ground and gave Connor a little nod. Connor saw that fear again just like the time he had yelled at Murphy in the tree house. He backed up. He knew what he would do. Merle had a bit of a walk to the house. There wasn't anything he would be able to do if Connor came back.

**Go Connor! Reviews please! Thanks for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Next chapter is up! Hope you guys like it! **

**Chapter 15**

Connor left Murphy and Merle and decided to head around behind them. He'd get Merle from behind and then he and Murphy would be able to get to his house. They'd be safe there until Murphy had to go home. He snuck through the outside of the woods. He saw Merle up ahead with Murphy still in his grip. Murphy was trying to get away every so often but Merle would just hit him and he'd stop. Connor crept closer. He saw Murphy's head twitch and turn to the side. Had Murphy heard him? He was able to get in a good position and then moved in. He hit Merle in the back of the head. It was hard but he managed a hard enough punch to get him to let go of Murphy. "Murphy let's go!" he yelled. They took off running between two houses and into the street of their neighborhood. Connor turned toward his house and pointed. Murphy nodded. They made it to the door and caught their breath.

Connor opened the door and they ran up to Connor's room. He shut the door after they got in. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "That was good," Murphy said shakily and Connor realized that his friend was holding back tears. "Are you ok?" Connor asked. "Yea I'm fine. Just a little shaky I guess," Murphy replied. Connor gave Murphy a soft punch on the shoulder and smiled. "We're going to be fine. Remember I promised you that I wouldn't let them hurt you." That pretty much set Murphy off. "I went to your house at nine in the morning. You weren't there and I saw the note. I knew that he was going to hurt you because I wouldn't be able to make it in time. Then after I got there and we ran from him, you fell and I knew that he was going to use you against me again," Murphy said. Connor nodded. Then he admitted, "I thought you weren't going to come." Murphy looked at him and smiled, "I wouldn't ever do that. You remember that." Connor nodded and looked away. Then he asked, "Can I see the note?" Murphy hesitated but nodded. He pulled the note and handed it to Connor. Connor opened it and read:

_Murphy,_

_It's YOUR fault that I don't have girlfriend. You messed up my life so I'm repaying the favor. I won't hurt him to bad unless you don't get to us by ten. I hope you know that if you weren't such a screw-up you wouldn't be putting your friend in danger. Everything that happens to him is on your head. I'm in the woods. You'll find us eventually because you'll hear his screams. Hope to see you there eventually little bro._

Connor finished and looked at Murphy who was looking at him. "How bad did he hurt you Connor?" Murphy asked turning his head away from Connor. "You're not blaming yourself for this Murphy. You couldn't stop this," Connor said. "So it's a lot then. He hurt you a lot didn't he?" Murphy asked, "I'm sorry Connor." Connor shook his head, "I don't accept. You aren't apologizing for something that isn't your fault. You got there as quick as possible and that's fine. I don't care how much he hurts me Murph." Murphy sat down, "You will eventually." Connor shrugged, "Probably. But I'm not blaming you." Murphy nodded finally. Connor sat down to Murphy and they stayed silent. Then Murphy whispered, "Thanks for coming back for me Connor." Connor smiled, "I told you didn't I? I won't let him hurt you." Murphy nodded again and didn't say anything.

Connor realized how tired he was. He saw Murphy was struggling to keep his eyes open too even though it was only one in the afternoon. Murphy slowly stretched out on the floor and ended up falling asleep with his head resting on his arm. Connor smiled and decided he might as well sleep too. He laid down on the floor as well next to Murphy. Then rolled away as Murphy kicked him with his foot and said "Move over you're hogging the floor." Connor grinned and moved to the other side of the room and they fell asleep. Connor's mom came in later to see them but didn't wake the two boys because they looked exhausted. Instead she just shut the door quietly and left them alone.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome! **


	16. Chapter 16

**So the next couple of chapters are a little short but they start getting a little longer after that. Thanks for reading guys it means a lot!**

**Chapter 16**

Connor stretched from his position on the floor. "Oh great. This is going to be awful later," he sighed. He glanced at Murphy who appeared to still be sleeping. "Hey Murph! Wake up! It's like five in the afternoon." Murphy slowly came around and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. "Oh sorry Connor. I really shouldn't have fallen asleep on your floor," he said. Connor laughed, "It's cool Murph, seriously." Murphy nodded and got up. "I guess I should get back home then. I don't want to cause any more trouble." Connor shook his head, "You weren't causing trouble Murph." Murphy looked away, "I guess not. But I should still go back." He started to walk out of the room. Connor followed him. "Alright well I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked. Murphy grinned, "Yep."

Connor shut the door behind Murphy as he left and then wandered back upstairs. He couldn't believe the day's events. Ten hours ago he'd been kidnapped by Murphy's older brother and used as bait. He shook his head. It wasn't something he would like to do again. He realized that his shoulder and chest hurt, probably from Merle nailing him hard there. He also realized that Merle had done well in saying that he wouldn't hit Connor anywhere people could see. He must have had practice in that. He rubbed his injured shoulder and noticed it was the one that said VERITAS. "Dang," he muttered. He really wished he knew more about where he came from. Especially why he had gotten this tattoo. He pushed the thoughts away. Those were for a different time. Not now. He glanced out the window and saw Murphy dash out of his house. "What?" he said softly. Murphy glanced behind him and then ran into the back of the house. A few moments Connor jumped back from the window as Murphy appeared on the roof.

Connor sighed and walked downstairs. He went out the back door of his house and crossed the street farther down. He found Murphy's yard and how he'd gotten up there. Connor used the slight ledges that the bricks made to make it halfway and then the indents in the wall for the second floor. He made it up and walked over to Murphy. "What are you doing up here Murphy?" Murphy literally jumped and spun. "I should probably ask you that too," Murphy said with a slight smile, "it's nice up here anyway." Connor nodded and sat on the peak of the roof, "I've actually always wanted to crawl on a roof before." Murphy grinned, "There's nothing like it alright." They wandered around on the roof and did some balancing tricks on the points. Murphy laughed as he and Connor managed to hold themselves balanced on the peak of the roof for a good two minutes. "We're good," he said. Connor nodded, "Yes we are!" Connor decided he should probably leave the roof since it was close to nine thirty at night. "I'll see you tomorrow for the tree house," Murphy said as they both went inside. Connor nodded. As he walked home the pain in his shoulder returned. "Dang that hurts," he muttered. He made sure to cushion it in his bed that night and hoped it would be better tomorrow for working.

**Alright here we go. Review please! Those mean a lot! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Next chapter! Hope you guys like it! It's a bit of a filler chapter. But it's still important!**

**Chapter 17**

Connor was already at the tree house by the time Murphy showed up. "Thanks for waiting Conn. Your mom told me you were already in the woods," Murphy said. Connor looked apologetic, "Sorry Murph, but I wanted to bring some more boards here so we could start the roof as soon as you got here." "Nice idea!" Murphy climbed up the tree and they began their work. Connor decided he wanted to ask Murphy a question that had been bothering him. "Hey Murph. Did your brother ever you know get hurt in the house?" Murphy stopped working. "I don't know Conn. Maybe before I was around or old enough to be noticed. I haven't really asked him because every time I try to say something he's ignoring me or putting a fist in my gut." Connor nodded, "I was just wondering." Murphy shrugged, "It's fine. I would like to know myself. Then maybe he'd let up a bit."

Connor didn't like the direction this conversation was going in so he didn't reply. Murphy and Connor ended up finishing the roof with a lot of wood and time left. Connor made a small box that he could put the tools in and grinned, "Now I won't have to carry this stuff anymore." Murphy laughed. They ended up just chilling out in the house and talking about their plans for the addition and walkway. When Connor decided he should probably head home and spend some time with his mom. "I'll see you later Murphy, I should go," Connor said as he clambered down. Murphy waved to him from the tree house, "See you later Connor." Connor jogged back to his house and walked in. "Hey mom!" His mom greeted him and said that dinner would be done in an hour at around five. He walked upstairs and waited. He pulled out his paper with VERITAS written on it and made some changes to it.

He ate dinner with his mom and she told him that she would have to go to a store and pick some things up after. She would only be gone an hour or so. Connor nodded and headed back upstairs as she left. He was just going to chill but became bored almost immediately. He decided to go look around the house for stuff. He ended up in his mom's room in her closet. He opened a box and looked inside. There were papers, photos and forms. He pulled out one of the top papers and saw it was some kind of adoption form. He scanned it over and saw it was just stuff about him but then he saw something. He focused on the name slot on the form that read Connor MacManus. He grinned. So that was his last name. It sounded good. He'd put it to use somehow but he wasn't sure how yet.

He set the form back in the box and pulled out one of the photos. Was that him and his brother? He couldn't tell and the names were too faded to see. It had to be though that was the only other person he could have been with when he was only a few weeks old. He put the photo down. Why hadn't his mom adopted both him and his brother? He'd find him one day. He decided that he might as well stop rummaging through his mom's stuff. He grabbed one more piece of paper and realized it was some kind of prayer. He tucked it away in his pocket as he heard the door downstairs open. Then he closed the box and put it back and sprinted to his room. He'd check the prayer out some other time. Connor sat down in his room and thought about what he had seen before. He slowly pushed himself out of the chair and walked to the hallway upstairs.

He took a breath. "Mom?" he asked. "What Connor?" his mom answered. "Why didn't you adopt my brother too?" he asked and then let the breath out. His mom was silent but then replied, "You're father didn't really want to kids." Connor looked down. "I had one? I never saw him. Where was he?" His mom answered him, "He was killed in a car crash a while ago. Long time ago actually. You were maybe two at the time. He loved you Connor. He really did. I wish you had had more time with him." Connor just shook his head, "It's fine. I was just curious." He headed back into his room.

So he had a dad. He wondered if his dad would've been able to help him with Murphy. "Whatever," he said shaking his head. He went to sleep early that day and his dreams were filled with his dad and Murphy. When he woke up the next day he hit his pillow. "Wonderful. He's going to be everywhere and not always in the way I want," he muttered. The dream he had had before had ended with Connor trying to get his dad to help him and his dad leaving him with Murphy who was slowly bleeding out. He shook his head to clear it and headed out of his room.

**Reviews are good! They're like candy. You can never get enough of them! Thanks for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright really short chapter here but its a lead in to the next chapter. Important stuff so don't blow it off! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

Connor headed down the driveway towards Murphy's house. Murphy was waiting for him as Connor crossed the street and they headed into the woods. "Something up Connor?" Murphy asked. Connor shook his head, "No just a bad dream." Murphy nodded but didn't push further. He understood other people didn't always want to share everything. They climbed up the tree. Murphy climbed up higher then Connor and jumped on the roof to make sure it didn't fall apart. Connor was inside watching the boards and grinned as none moved. "We did it Murph. We just need furniture and we will be all set!" Connor said. He heard Murphy laugh from the roof and he swung down a minute later. They decided that they might as well use any extra boards to create the bridge over the branches. It took longer then they expected but they did get their bridge to the spot they wanted the second house. "You know what?" Murphy said, "we need a door because it will be freezing in here once winter comes." Connor nodded, "Yea I think we could use some windows to. Like coverings or something to keep the wind out that way." Murphy agreed and Connor checked his watch. It was about three thirty. "Let's eat something. I'm hungry," he said. Murphy nodded and they sat down in their house and ate lunch. Murphy was looking at him like he was trying to read Connor's mind. "You ok Murph?" he asked. Murphy nodded, "I think you have something going on in your mind though. Anything I should know?" Connor shrugged. "I was just thinking about some stuff I found yesterday in my mom's room. Just some stuff about adoption." Murphy looked surprised. "You're adopted?" Connor nodded. Murphy laid back. "What were you thinking about?" Connor shrugged, "I guess about my dad who died when I was two, my brother that I have never even seen, and my last name I had before." Murphy nodded again, "I wish I had a brother. One like you though. Not like Merle. One that would be fun and actually care." Connor grinned, "I wish I had one too. It would be so cool." Murphy nodded and then rolled up. "I should probably go and get back since it is about five." "Alright," Connor said "I'll see you later. I might stay and see if I can fix some of the cracks in the floor." "Cool, I'll see you later then," Murphy said and climbed down. Connor watched him go and then texted his mom. He told her he would probably be out until about nine. That would give him time to rest after his restless night of sleeping. He ended up falling asleep on the floor of the tree house. When he woke up it was almost nine thirty. "Shoot!" he grabbed his phone and quickly texted a message telling his mom he was coming. He climbed down the tree and headed back towards the house. As he neared the end of the woods it was almost completely dark out. Murphy had lights on in his house. He started cutting through Murphy's front yard when the door flew open. It surprised Connor so much that he ducked behind the little wall in the yard. He waited and saw a figure appear. "Oh no," he whispered.

**Hope you liked this tiny little chapter! Reviews are awesome and I'll try and get the next chapter up tomorrow.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Next chapter! Like I said these chapters are pretty short. But this is full of excitement! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 19**

As he hid behind the wall he heard yelling from the figure. Something about how this would make someone stop asking stupid and pointless questions. Murphy he thought. It had to be Murphy. He decided that the figure in the door was Murph's dad, Phillip. He watched as Phillip threw Murphy out of the house by the collar of his shirt. Murphy landed hard and he heard the quiet snap of a bone. He wanted to get to Murphy right then and there but knew if Phillip saw him he would be in trouble. He decided he might as well hide here until Phillip went back inside. The problem was that he didn't go back inside but instead slowly approached Murph's still figure on the ground.

"He's so drunk," Connor breathed. Phillip approached Murphy and he saw Murphy immediately start moving. Murphy started crawling as quickly as he could away from his dad. Connor realized that the cracking bone must have been Murphy's leg because otherwise he would have gotten up and ran. Phillip took his time getting to Murphy and it reminded Connor of one of those movies where the bad guy knows he has got you trapped and decides to drag it out. Phillip put his foot on Murphy's back to stop him from moving any farther. Murphy stopped immediately as if he had been shocked. His head turned up towards his dad and, as if he saw the hit coming, put his arm up to block his face. Connor knew he was going to help in some way. He decided he should move around to the back and shove Phillip out of the way. He then decided he would get killed by doing that. He had plans flying through his mind as he watched Phillip kick at Murphy on the ground. One particularly hard one caused a cry from Murphy. "Enough of this," Connor muttered to himself. He slowly stood up from behind the wall and walked quickly towards Murphy. Phillip didn't see him right away because he was to busy crushing Murphy's arm under his foot.

"Hey!" he yelled, "get off him." Phillip turned and glared at Connor. "What ya gonna do 'bout it kid?" he asked angrily. Yep he's drunk Connor thought. Connor walked up and gave Phillip a shove away from Murphy, "I'm going to get you away from him." Murphy's father grinned and shook his head. "Yea right kid. I don't need to be near him to hurt him. All anyone's gotta do to make him stop what he's doin is say that he's no good for anything." Connor glared at him. "And I've told him a million times that's not true," he said.

Murphy was starting to move a little more then he had been before and Connor hoped he would be able to get Murphy out of here before something bad happened. Phillip shook his head at Murphy, "Nope. You're not goin no where." He moved faster than a drunken guy should and knocked Murphy over with a kick to the ribs before Connor could push him away again. He heard Murphy gasping for air behind him and stood in front of him defensively. "Go away," he snapped.

Phillip just smiled and then did something Connor couldn't believe. He pulled out a gun and with blinding speed pulled the trigger. "Shoot!" Connor screamed as he waited for the pain to come. But it never did. Instead he heard a cry from behind him. "Murph?"

**Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! Reviews are great and they're very supportive! **


	20. Chapter 20

**Next chapter is here! You get to find out what happens! And it is a little longer than the previous chapters! Bonus!**

**Chapter 20**

Connor spun around and saw Murphy curling in on himself. "Murph!" he yelled. He dropped down next to his friend as he glanced behind him to see where Phillip was but he was gone. He turned back to Murphy. "Murph, are you ok? Where did you get hit?" he was half yelling because he was panicking. Murphy shook his head, "Stop yelling Conn. It was a good shot right under your arm. Got me in the shoulder." Connor made a move to check it but Murphy shook his head again. "You aren't a doctor Conn. You won't be able to do anything. How about you actually call one?" Connor realized Murphy's voice was fading a bit. "Shoot man, hang on ok? You have to hang on. Keep your eyes open ok? I'm going to call the ambulance and we'll get you to the hospital."

Connor pulled out his phone. He dialed 911. "Hello?" he asked as he heard the line pick up. "I need help. My friend got shot. He's bleeding out." Connor could tell his voice was shaking. "We're on Mulberry Street on Walker Road. Please hurry we need an ambulance. He's bleeding out." Connor hung up after he got a confirmation. He sat down next to Murphy who was still trying to keep his eyes open. "Hey don't worry ok? The ambulance is coming. You gotta be strong though ok?" Connor decided that it would be good to keep talking to Murphy. Murphy nodded. Connor could tell in the dark that it must hurt a lot because Murphy was crying. "You sure you don't want me to try and stop the bleeding?" he asked. Murphy nodded, "I don't want you to touch it. That way they can do whatever."

Connor kept close to Murphy as they waited. Connor told Murphy about different things that would happen at school and about the different sports they could do. Murphy listened to him and added things every so often. Connor started to worry more when Murphy could only talk when he breathed out. Connor was starting to be impatient. Where was the ambulance? He had called almost ten minutes ago. "It hurts bad Conn." Murphy's voice surprised him. "I know Murph. But they're coming I promise." Murphy nodded and then closed his eyes. "No way Murph. You're staying awake here! Come on! Please!" Connor was begging him now. But Murphy was unconscious from the loss of blood. "Dang it," Connor said.

He figured that he should try and stop Murphy from bleeding because he already had lost enough blood. Even though Murphy had said not to touch him he had to do something. He was able to rip off a piece of the bottom of his shirt and began to fold it up. He slowly moved Murphy's sleeve so he could wipe the blood off and tie it around the wound. He tied the first piece of shirt around the bullet and then got another piece to wipe up the blood that had poured over his arm and shoulder. He slowly moved the piece of cloth up and down over Murphy's arm so he didn't hurt him. He was able to finish wiping up the blood.

He had just finished when he heard Murphy's voice. "Conn? You still here?" Connor nodded through his tears, "Yea I'm here man. They're coming." Murphy sighed and then looked at Connor, "I gonna die Conn?" Connor shook his head, "No way. They're coming right now ok?" Murphy nodded and then slowly used his good leg and arm to push himself next to Connor.

Connor didn't say anything but stayed right next to Murphy. As Murphy once again fell unconscious he saw something on Murphy's arm. It was a mark. He lowered himself to the ground to see what it was and when he saw it he bolted back into a sitting position and pulled back. His mouth dropped open and tears welled in his eyes. He let them fall as his mind processed what had just happened. He couldn't believe it. It was impossible wasn't it? He was hoping it was but his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. It was too real. Murphy did have a mark on his arm and it said AEQUITAS.

**What? Who didn't see that coming?! Thanks for reading guys! Reviews are great! Really they are!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Next chapter up and this is actually a little longer than most! Wow!**

**Chapter 21**

Connor fell back from Murphy. Murphy? Murphy was his brother? How was that possible? He tried to clear his mind and think of a logical explanation to this but nothing came. He shook the thoughts from his head as he leaned over Murphy to make sure he was still breathing. He heard the sirens of an ambulance and let out a sigh of relief. The ambulance pulled up to the house soon after that. Connor didn't want to move but the paramedics moved him away from Murphy so they could get to him. Connor watched silently and as they put Murphy on a stretcher and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. Connor didn't ask anyone if he could, but he climbed into the back of the ambulance too. He called his mom and told her that he was going to the hospital because Murphy was hurt. His mom said that she would come down later as well.

Connor realized how crowded it was in the back. There were two paramedics, Murphy, and himself. The paramedics were working on hooking Murphy up to a bunch of stuff. He tried not to watch but there wasn't anything else to look at. Murphy had an IV hooked into his arm and an oxygen mask over his face. Connor looked away. He didn't say anything until the one doctor spoke to him. "Who are you?" she asked. Connor looked at her. "I'm….." he stopped, not sure what to say, "I'm his brother." The woman nodded. "I'm guessing you have a name?" Connor nodded, "Connor."

The woman glanced at Murphy and then back to him. "Well Connor, your brother is in for a rough ride. From what I can tell the whole right side of his body is broken: arm, leg, and a few of his ribs. Plus the bullet in his shoulder." Connor nodded again. He had figured that much. "Is there a parent or guardian that I should be telling this to? Or are you the only one?" she asked. Connor glanced up, "His dad just shot him. I think you might as well go with me." The woman nodded. "Then your brother.." "Murphy," Connor cut in. "Then Murphy is going to have to have surgery to get the bullet shards out. I'm guessing he's going to want you around so you can stay near the room while it happens but not in there ok?" Connor nodded. That had been more then he had expected.

He had figured that he would've had to sit in the waiting room the whole time. "Murph lost a lot of blood, is he going to be ok?" he asked. The woman looked at Murphy. "It's hard to tell right now Connor. He's fighting for sure so that's a good sign. It'll be easier once we can see all the damage done," she said. "Ok," Connor sighed. They pulled into the hospital and Murphy was rushed into the hospital. Connor was there the whole time. Not always right beside him, but close enough to see him. There were a lot of voices all talking about what was going to happen and Connor tried to tune them out. He didn't want to know. He hoped Murphy didn't wake up. It would scare the crap out of him if he did. His wish wasn't granted. Murphy must have been aroused by all the noise or something because his eyes fluttered open.

Connor started forward but got cut off by a doctor. He heard Murphy's cry of surprise though and what happened after that. "Murphy listen you have to settle down, you might hurt something." That was one of the doctors. What came next was what got Connor moving. "Wait, wait, what's going on? Where's Conn?" That was Murphy. He tried pushing through the crowd but it wasn't working. He heard Murphy's voice rise a little more and then a doctor say something about sedation. "No!" he said angrily, "please let me try to calm him down. He's worked up right now. I can get him to stop. Give me a minute?"

The doctor finally gave in and let Connor go. Connor raced to Murphy's side. "Hey Murph, you gotta be calm ok? I'm here like I told you. They have to get that bullet out of your shoulder. If you keep this up they're gonna knock you out and then you won't have a clue what's going on," he said softly. Murphy looked at him. "Conn, I thought you were gone. I thought you left. My shoulder hurts real bad Conn." Connor felt the tears in his eyes but knew he had to stay strong. "Yea I know it hurts. But they are going to take care of that ok? And I'm going to be waiting right outside the door so when they're done we can talk ok? They told me I could wait. I'll be there. I promise," he said. He saw the exhausted look in Murphy's eyes and ruffled his hair.

Murphy finally nodded and closed his eyes. "I guess I'll see you later then. Please don't leave." Connor shook his head, "I won't." The doctors moved Murphy towards the surgery room and Connor followed until they went in. Then he sat down on the floor outside the room and waited. He knew they would give Murphy something to numb the pain of what was coming but it would still hurt, especially with the broken arm to add more pain. It was quiet for a good half hour to forty-five minutes before slight cries were heard from the room. He covered his ears. He wouldn't be able to take that.

A good hour passed before the doors opened and they brought Murphy out. Connor looked at his shoulder. The bullet was gone and it was bandaged up. Murphy was out. The doctor looked at Connor. "We knocked him out once it started getting bad so he would be able to feel the relief from the pain. He will be back around in an hour or so but in a lot of pain. I think it's a good thing that you are here," he said. Connor nodded and looked at Murphy. He looked so peaceful, like the past two hours hadn't even happened. They took Murphy to a room that would be his so they could also repair the right side of his body. Connor had a chair next to Murphy's bed and he used it. "You know you should probably rest for a little bit. There's another bed behind that curtain, go get some rest. We will wake you as soon as he wakes ok?" Connor nodded and moved over to the bed. He was out as soon as he laid down.

**Not sure if they would actually let Connor go in the ambulance but its a story! Anything can happen! Thanks for reading and reviewing! As long as you are reviewing. If you're not then you should! Next chapter coming soon!**


	22. Chapter 22

**So this chapter is here now! It's not too short though so that's good! **

**Chapter 22**

The doctor kept his promise and Connor was right next to Murphy as he woke up. "Hey Murph, how you feeling?" he asked with a small smile. "Like I could….. could take on an army," Murphy managed. Connor laughed softly, "I can tell." Murphy smiled and Connor knew that he was going to be ok. They took Murphy to another room in the morning to fix his leg which wasn't too bad. It just needed a cast to make sure the bones didn't move anymore. They asked Murphy if he wanted to get his arm done too and Murphy agreed even though he knew that it would hurt a lot more then his leg. The bone had been almost completely crushed by Phillip and fixing that would involve a lot of work and probably pain.

While that was taking place Connor's mom came to visit. She made sure Connor was ok and asked about Murphy. He told her the story. She wasn't able to stay for a long time because she had work but she told Connor to tell Murphy to stay strong. Connor told her he would and gave her a hug before she left.

Murphy came back an hour after his mom left and he was out again. "It was really good at the beginning," the doctor said, "but after a little while it gets a lot more painful and he was getting really upset." Connor nodded. "That's ok. I'd rather him not feel anything." The doctor told him Murphy probably had a few hours before he woke up so Connor could wander around if he wanted. Connor told him that he probably would but didn't move from his spot.

The doctors left the room soon after. He was alone for a good half an hour before a nurse poked her head into the room. "This is Murphy Flicker's room correct?" she asked. Connor nodded, "did you need something?" The nurse shook her head, "He just has a visitor so I wanted to make sure it was the right room. I'll be leaving." A visitor? Connor wondered who it could be. As far as he knew it was only him and his mom that cared about Murphy. So he was caught off guard when Merle walked in a few minutes later. He jumped up and put his hands out. "What are you doing here?!" he asked angrily.

Merle put his hands up. "Look kid, I'm not going to beat the kid up. We're in a hospital for god's sake. If I did I would be arrested and locked up for a good long while. Even though you might think that I have no life at all other then tormenting this kid, I have better things to do then spend my life in prison." Connor realized he had a good point. He slowly sat back down as Merle dropped his bag on the chair across from Connor near the door. "Then why are you here?" he asked. Merle glanced up as he started digging through the bag. "I've been here a good amount of times for breaking several bones. The television programs suck. I figured that my brother won't make it out alive without something entertaining." Merle pulled out a couple movies and a few books as well as Murphy's iPod and charger.

Connor's jaw dropped. Was Merle being nice? "Whoa, do your parents know you're doing this?" he asked. The words had kind of formed themselves and pushed out of his mouth. Merle smirked, "If they did I have a good feeling they'd be here by now." Connor shook his head, "I still don't get why you're doing this." Merle rolled his eyes. "Look, I told you I've been here with my fair share of broken bones. I didn't break them that different from how he did." That's when Connor got it. Merle understood it. "Then why did you beat the crap out of us?" he asked. Merle eyed him icily. "You want me to go into a long explanation? How long does he got until he wakes up?" Connor looked at Murphy. "A good two hours I'd say."

Merle leaned back in his chair and tossed the books and movies on the edge of Murphy's bed. "Fine. I was eight and Murphy was six when my dad gave me a way out of being hit by him. All I had to do was nail my little brother good once or twice a week and then I'd be good. So would he. If I did a good job, Murphy didn't get a belt or a huge fight. So I continued with what I did until my dad decided he needed more. I tried to do enough to make Murphy look bad but it didn't work I guess because my dad started taking more out on him and me. I got mad. I blamed Murphy for me getting hit. I don't know why but it fueled enough anger in me so I could actually take it out on him and not feel bad about it. Then you guys came through that one day and took away the freedom I got from my dad when I was with Veronica. I was so mad at Murphy because he kept messing my life up. I never would've thought that my dad was planning on shooting him and trying to kill him. I heard the ambulance last night and the gun shot."

Connor couldn't believe it. It's gotta be a lie he thought it has to be. Merle doesn't care. He hates us. Right? Merle sighed, "Well I guess I'll leave. Just tell him I came by ok?" Connor nodded and watched Merle walk out the door. Then a thought struck him. "Merle!" he ran out of the room after him. Merle was waiting for him in the hall, "What?" Connor looked into his eyes, "Why didn't your mom stop it?"

Merle's face dropped. "We'd be lucky to see her. She seems nice when you meet her and everything but usually she goes up somewhere and drinks. Sometimes she left the house and didn't come back until a good day later when the beating didn't matter anymore. Dad hit us where no one would see. Like I told you that one day. Plus by the time she got back she'd never notice any difference because she barely gave us a second glance. I don't know why she did this. Maybe it has something to do with before my time. I don't know and I really don't care. She doesn't help so she's not worth my time. Now I seriously do have to go." Merle began the walk away and Connor watched. He had just been told everything. He couldn't believe that Merle had seriously just said that he cared about Murphy and had done this stuff to protect him.

He went back to the room and watched as Murphy came around. "Hey Murph," he smiled. Murphy looked at him and went to move but didn't get far before the pain in his arm came back and he gasped. "Hey, hey don't move. Do you want to watch a movie?" Murphy looked at him. "You brought movies? When?" Connor shook his head. "I didn't bring them. Merle did. Along with your iPod and some books." Murphy looked at him like he was crazy. "Merle brought me this stuff? Why? Are all the boxes empty or something? Is my iPod dead? Merle doesn't just do nice things. There has to be a catch."

Connor shook his head. "I'm pretty sure he was serious. He told me a lot about what happened at your place. I think it would be better to hear it from him then me though." Murphy shook his head amazed still and reached for the boxes. He flipped through the movies and couldn't stop the smile coming across his face. "They're all my favorites," he said, "All five of them: Transformers 1-3, The Punisher, and a season of the Big Bang Theory. How the heck did he know?" Connor laughed, "Which one? You're the guest now so I think you have to pick."

**Whoa what happened there? I don't even know! Thanks for reading! Reviews would be good!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Next chapter is up! This is longer then most of them so enjoy it!**

**Chapter 23**

They finally decided on watching the Big Bang Theory. Connor left for a few minutes and came back with some food. He tossed an apple towards Murphy's good arm. Murphy grinned, "To bad we can't throw them in here." Connor laughed and they put the movie in. Soon they were both cracking up so loud that the doctors next door had to tell them to quiet down. Connor ended up having to hide his face in a pillow during funny parts to smother his laughing. When they finished the whole season, there was a pause for the doctors to check on Murphy and change the bandage on his shoulder, Connor took the disc out and put it on the pile again.

Murphy shook his head, "Why Conn? Why did he do that? Please tell me." Connor wanted to tell Murphy everything that Merle had said but he decided it was better to hear it from Merle. "I can't Murph. He's gotta tell you." Murphy sighed and seemed to sink into his bed more. Connor finally decided to tell Murphy something that had been nagging at him for a while. "Hey Murph, do you remember how you said you wanted a brother like me?" Murphy nodded, "Yea. Why?" Connor took a breath. "Well, you do. Me. I'm not kidding. I had a brother at the beginning and we were both tattooed with a Latin word on our shoulder. I have Veritas and you have Aequitas." Murphy didn't say anything for a while.

Finally he looked at Connor and asked, "How'd you figure all that out?" Connor smiled and told him about discovering how Veritas and Aequitas were always a pair so his brother would have to have the other one. "….. and then last night I was cleaning off some of the blood on your shoulder and I saw that on your arm. I couldn't believe that you were my brother Murph, I really couldn't. I guess I had to convince myself that it was true before I told you. And I didn't want to tell you before your surgery and everything because I didn't want you to have that on your mind during that," Connor finished. Murphy nodded and smiled. "I guess some wishes do come true then huh?" Connor grinned, "I guess so. I'm surprised you believed me that quickly." Murphy looked at him, "Why would you lie about something like that?" Connor just shook his head, "I wouldn't." Murphy nodded.

They sat for a while in silence before Murphy spoke. "I'm not going to have to go back there am I? I mean, I can go somewhere else? The police have to know what happened right? I don't wanna go back Conn. I really don't. I can go someplace else and not have to worry right?" Connor wasn't sure how to answer that.

He decided he might as well say what he thought. "Probably. I'd think so Murph. But where would you go? I mean do you have someone that you'll be able to be with? I don't know about my place because we don't have a lot of money." Murphy looked away, "I don't know. But anywhere is better than where I was." Connor nodded, "I'll help you find someplace. I can't believe we are brothers and we can't even live in the same place." Murphy nodded sadly and Connor could tell that he was feeling the same sadness as he was. Connor had to ask Murphy something about what he had heard on the night Murphy had been shot.

"Hey Murph, what did your dad mean by asking pointless questions?" Murphy looked away, "You heard that huh?" Connor nodded. "Well I asked him about the tattoo. I knew I had it but I just kept it secret from them. It had been bothering me so I just asked him about it. I didn't know he was drunk or anything so he totally took me by surprise," Murphy explained. Connor sighed, "I should've told you about it earlier then you wouldn't have had to ask." Murphy looked at him, "You didn't know I had it though so it made sense you didn't talk about it."

Connor nodded, "I guess that you should probably go to sleep Murph. It's been a long day. I should probably get some sleep too." Murphy nodded and shifted slightly in his bed so he was more comfortable and waved Connor to go to sleep. Connor climbed into the bed on the other side of the curtain and yawned as he went to sleep.

He woke up at some ungodly hour of the morning. He checked the clock. Three-thirty. He couldn't believe that he had woken up now. He always slept through the night. Something had to have woken him up. That's when he heard it. It was a quiet whimper. "Murph?" he whispered. He heard shifting on the other side of the curtain. He clambered out of his bed and moved quietly towards Murphy who he could tell was shaking. "Stupid dreams," he whispered, "Murphy? Murph come on wake up. It's just a dream buddy."

He gently shook Murphy and that seemed to work because Murphy shot up straight up despite the pain he was going through. Though the pain did come back because Murphy flinched violently when his arm jerked to fast and the quick motion hurt his ribs. "Hey you alright," Connor asked softly. Murphy was sweating slightly and breathing hard but he nodded. "It was just a dream, I'm fine," he said. Connor looked at him, "Lying gets you nowhere Murphy." Murphy sighed as he laid down and then said, "Fine I'm a little scared ok. It was just a little panicking but I'm ok now because it's done." Connor nodded, "That's all I needed." Murphy looked at him and smiled. "It's good to have a brother like you Conn," he said softly before he went back to sleep.

Connor went back to his bed and fell asleep thinking about Murphy's words to him. He woke up the next morning feeling pretty good. Murphy was already up trying to reach something to throw at Connor but once he saw Connor was awake he stopped. Connor rolled his eyes, "I saw you Murph, I'm very observant you know." Murphy grinned at him. "What do we do today?" Before Connor could answer a doctor walked in and told them that they'd have to check Murphy over. Connor nodded and moved out of the way. Two doctors came in and checked Murphy. They asked about his injuries and checked his bullet wound which, Connor thought, still looked bad. Murphy didn't seem too fazed by any of it though except when they were doing things with his arm. He would squeeze his eyes shut and clench his teeth and his fist whenever they tried to move it. Connor wanted them to be done already.

It seemed like forever but they did finish and then the doctor he liked spoke. "Well there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that you're going to have stay for at least another week so we can make sure that the bullet wound heals and that everything else keeps going smoothly. The good news is that after that your leg should be pretty fixed up so that you won't need crutches. If you had needed crutches you would've been staying here a lot longer because you wouldn't be able to use them with that arm." Murphy nodded at the last part and smiled, "Thanks." The doctor nodded and left the room and Murphy let his strong personality go down as the pain came in waves from his arm.

Connor was next to him in an instant. "Whoa Murph, lay down ok? I know your arm hurts, but it'll feel better if you lay down," he said. Murphy nodded shakily and when he was lying down he slowly moved his shattered arm to the bed next to him. "Oh god that really hurts," he said softly and winced. Connor nodded, "I'll bet but keep it up Murph, you only got a week left here and then you can leave." Murphy shrugged, "Yea I guess. It's not too bad here of course."

Connor understood what he meant. "We'll get you a home buddy," he said. Murphy looked away, "Yea but not with my brother." Connor sighed, "Yea I know but you can spend a lot of time with me. And we will both go to the same school. It'll work out, you'll see. Then when we get old enough to move out we'll buy a place and live there." Murphy nodded and looked up at the ceiling. Then his expression changed and he smiled, "So we have a week and I don't think four movies are going to make us survive. We need to do something." Connor nodded, "We need some kind of activity. Do you think they have a thing that they could hook video games up to?" Murphy shook his head, "Probably not. But we could watch movies.

They watched one of the transformers movies and then they managed to get their hands on a bag of chips and a few cookies. They had actually persuaded a nurse to go and get them. She hadn't wanted to but Murphy said that the doctors had ordered him to keep eating so he didn't make himself worse. "That's a lie and you know it Murph," Connor said as the nurse left. Murphy laughed, "She would've gotten it for us eventually. I just didn't want to wait around forever while she checked everything to make sure I could eat or whatever." Connor shook his head and continued to watch the movie.

They talked during the movie about school and sports and by the time they were done arguing about what football team had the best quarterback and what baseball team had the best pitching stats it was close to ten at night. Murphy yawned but smiled victoriously as he had just won the quarterback argument. "Alright Conn, I'm done for tonight. Tomorrow we can do your basketball argument or whatever. I'm going to sleep." Connor nodded and turned in as well.

**Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading! Reviews are always great! They make my day a lot better!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry its short. It really is but its important. Thanks for sticking with me!**

**Chapter 25**

The next few days passed in the same manner with them bothering the nurses and the doctors coming in to check Murphy. By the fifth day most of the bullet wound was healed up and Murphy's leg was almost ready to be taken out of the cast. His arm was starting to feel a little better too and so were his ribs. Connor smiled as Murphy could sit up without wincing too much and he could actually laugh without his ribs hurting him. Then came the hard part.

A couple police officers came by and told Murphy he wouldn't be going back to that house. Connor had to retell the whole event again which wasn't exactly thrilling for him. Murphy had accepted the fact he wouldn't be going home easily. When they asked him if he had anywhere to go he shook his head.

Connor called his mom down to the hospital to help out with the problem and see if she could find anyone. When she arrived Connor asked her to talk with him for a minute. "Mom, I found out on the night Murphy got shot that he was my brother. He has the tattoo that is the second half of mine," Connor said. His mom looked at him surprised. "You're sure about this Connor?" Connor nodded, "I'm sure."

They walked back into the room and began talking to the officers. When the police officers had asked her about taking in Murphy she hadn't answered immediately. Connor had known the answer though so it was a surprise when she had said that she would be able to give him a home for a little while as a foster parent. Connor looked at Murphy and smiled and Murphy looked hopeful. The officers agreed to that easily. "Ok. We will have to have you sign up for being a foster parent and supply you with a little extra money for him." His mother nodded and left the room with them to fill out some work.

Connor jumped back to Murphy as they both were grinning. "You are going to get to live with us Murph! We're gonna be like real brothers!" Murphy nodded, still grinning, "That's so cool Conn! I can't believe it! I'm going to be away from them finally!" Connor grinned. He was happy to see Murphy so excited. They talked for a little while before Connor's mom came back in. "Alright Murphy, we'll take you home as soon as you can go ok?" Murphy nodded and smiled. Connor couldn't believe it. Murphy was going to be living with them until they could find someone to actually take care of him. He might be able stay until they were eighteen and then they'd move out together. He grinned again.

The officers reentered the room and talked to Connor's mom about the process for a few more minutes before they began packing up. The cops turned to leave when a voice from the doorway stopped them. "I can adopt him."

**Again I'm sorry about the shortness but it was such a good cliff-hanger. Who is it? Thanks for reading! Reviews would be absolutely wonderful!**


End file.
